The sleeveless ventilated jacket "eco-jacket" for businessmen in hot summer was developed, which has two long side openings so that ventilation may be promoted. From the view point of the fashion the jacket was proved to be reasonable and acceptable. Experiments on the thermal environment from 25 to 28 degree C were carried out. Sweat rate at the back and the forearm, mean skin temperature and others were observed. Based on the results of the experiments the increasing ratio was defined for every item. An expression of the summer heat endurance for the jacket was given using the increasing ratio. The value of the summer heat endurance for the sleeveless ventilated jacket was estimated 1.5 times as superior as one for the ordinary jacket with long sleeves.

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This study was conducted to investigate the effect on the physiological and psychological responses of the subjects under the air movements from the front or rear directions to the subjects. The thermal influence of the air velocity was evaluated using the corrected humid operative temperature HOTV, the local corrected humid operative temperature and their associated indices. The subjects were exposed to the several combined conditions of air temperatures 28℃ and 24℃ and air velocities 0.3m/s, 0.5m/s and 0.7m/s under 50% RH and mean radiant temperature = air temperature. The HOTV and the local HOTV values indicating the independent effect of thermal velocity correlated well with skin temperature and thermal sensation. This result means that the HOTV and the local HOTV can indicate the effect of air velocity in the whole body and local positions. HOTV 25.9℃ and 25.5℃ were found to be the thermal neutral conditions for air movement from front and rear directions, respectively.

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This study aims to develop a low energy and environmental conscious house through analyzing renovation and new construction process of detached houses in cold regions. First, the energy consumption of two households in which renovation and new construction of their houses have been planned was analyzed, and the underground thermal utilization for residential energy system was adopted for both houses. Second, the long-term monitoring of the systems was carried out. The results of the coefficient of performance for space heating and the energy efficiency ratio for space cooling were 2.8 and 5.4, respectively, and the sustainability of the systems was proved. Finally, it was shown that the primary energy reduction rate relative to typical heating was 15-18%, and strategies for the further improvement of the system performance were presented.

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A three-dimensional human body surface model was developed and its validity was verified. Use of the three-dimensional human body surface model enables accurate calculation of the amount of heat exchange between the human body and the environment in a numerical simulation. A non-contacting three-dimensional digitizer was used for measurement, with a nude male in the standing posture selected as the subject. The simulation model was comprised of about 11,400 triangular polygons. Verification of the validity of the simulation model was performed by comparison of the heat transfer area. The results showed that the difference between the convection area of the simulation model and the human body was 0.4%. In addition, the differences in radiation area and contacted surface area between them were 2.6% and 9.5%, respectively.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the physiological and subjective responses when using radiative and air-conditioning heating systems in the bathroom. Ten healthy men bathed under the following conditions: A, With the air-conditioner running before and during bathing, R, Switching from air-conditioner to radiation heating once subjects enter the bathroom. Off, Air-conditioner running before bathing and turned off when subjects enter the bathroom. C, No heating. Subjects were sitting beside the bathtub for 5 min and drenched with warm water using a basin. After that, they immersed themselves to the neck in warm water (40℃) for 5min. Just after drenching, there were not significant differences in blood pressure between condition A and R, but the increase in diastolic blood pressure for A was greater than for R and Off. and the subjects felt cold and uncomfortable under condition A compared to R and Off. After immersion in warm water, the DBP for Off increased and the subjects felt cold and more uncomfortable under condition Off compared to R and A. The changes of BP for R during the experiment were the smallest among the 4 conditions. It was suggested that the radiative heating system was the most suitable heating methods among the 4 conditions to obtain warmth and comfortable both after drenching and after immersion.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the differences of thermal insulation of clothing ensembles in terms of posture. The thermal insulation of clothing in three typical postures (standing, chair sitting, leg-out sitting) was measured by using a thermal manikin. Clothing area factor was measured using the photograph method, and the differences of clothing area in terms of posture were investigated. Differences of clothing area according to these three postures factors were observed. Although it has been supposed that the measurement of some human body was sufficient for calculating the clothing area factor, it was clearly shown that it was measured from all the directions of the human body. Significant differences expressed by these postures were seen in regard to the thermal insulation of clothing ensembles. It was shown that differences of the thermal insulation of clothing ensembles in terms of posture should be taken into consideration in evaluating the thermal environment of residential living rooms in Japan.

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